Walgreens Boots Alliance said it will collaborate with McLaren Health Care, a large health system in Michigan to expand pharmacy and healthcare services throughout the state.
McLaren, which operates 14 hospitals, will offer outpatient care services in Walgreens stores including urgent care and primary care staffed by physicians, according to the announcement. It’s an escalation of the retail health clinic services already available at hundreds of Walgreens across the country.
In addition, Walgreens will buy the “prescription files and pharmacy inventory assets” of McLaren pharmacies located in Michigan and operated certain onsite pharmacies operated by the health system, the companies said. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Walgreens has been launching several new local and national partnerships lately including a deal with the big grocery chain Kroger to bring food delivery to Walgreens customers and an arrangement with UnitedHealth Group to develop urgent care centers next to Walgreens stores in certain markets.
The Walgreens partnerships come as rival CVS Health’s acquisition of Aetna, the nation’s third-largest health insurer, nears completion. CVS executives have said they will be offering new primary care services in their stores as the Aetna merger develops and strategies are implemented.
